Mothers' Day Recap

I obviously need to work on spreading my posts out over time a bit more evenly, but here goes anyway. My second Mothers' Day dawned warm and sunny, and we celebrated with a tasty breakfast, a visit to the Children's Museum, lunch at a Thai place in downtown St. Paul, and a backyard picnic at our friends Tiffany and Brian's. Tor kept his spirits up gamely throughout the festivities, and I couldn't have asked for a better time.

We provide culinary variety. Tor provides an
insatiable appetite for cheese 

Adding texture to a penny: "What's next?"

This exhibit should have featured Lars

Gearing up to do the ol' grocery cart

"Nothing to see here . . . just a boy and his ball"

Painting with "AGUA! AGUA! AGUA!"

The Thai place was BYOC: bring your own cheese

Mugging with his straw

The sweetest boy in town (in my humble opinion)

Burning up the yard with la pelota muy, muy grande

We'll have to get him a Crazy Creek to save his back

"Back! Back!"

Tor is enamored of Baby Owen (also: Lindsay's first Mothers' Day!)

Okay, yes, he just wasn't feeling the mother-son photo

Family Time

For my birthday, Lars got our family a pass to the Minnesota Children's Museum. They do an amazing job there simulating various natural habitats to crawl through (e.g., ant hill, badger den, frog pond), allowing kids to try out quotidian aspects life (e.g., riding a bus, grocery shopping, mailing letters, cooking), and (Tor's favorite) providing a waterworks to splash around in. We've been several times already; these pictures are from our first visit last month. In the last month, we've also spent a lot of time enjoying the beautiful weather--summer has arrived, and Tor has discovered he loves gardening. Or maybe just dirt.

"TRILOBITE ON MY TAIL!!"

The only thing better than one Tor?

Laying tracks

Future hydro engineer

"Yarrr!"

Every day is Mothers' Day at our place

Speak softly...

Both Lars's parents and my parents, as well as my grandmother, flew out for an intense ten days of graduation and double dissertation defenses. Everyone got enough quality time with Tor that he repeats their names every time we get in the car now. "Grandma! Grandpa! Opa! Oma! Mormor!" (Spelling does not reflect pronunciation by Tor.) It's pretty awesome.

Cooking class with Grandma

The Easter story: exhausting

"Hey Oma--UP! UP! UP!"

The devastating Hansen stinkeye

Starting the day with a little artistic collaboration

We took a few family photos before Mormor left town after graduation.

Of course, Lars's eyes are closed, I look insane, and Tor is mutely appealing to the camera for aid.